dampen down
Make less intense
To dampen down is to reduce the intensity of something—flames, enthusiasm, speculation, or conflict.
The phrase is largely redundant, since dampen alone carries the same meaning, but the addition of down emphasizes suppression or containment: Officials tried to dampen down rumors of a merger.
More common in British than American English.
- put outExtinguish or annoy
- quenchSatisfy or extinguish
- suppressForcibly put an end to
- minimizeReduce to smallest extent
- soakSaturate with liquid
stifle · keep a lid on · extinguish · alleviate · take the edge off · calm · temper · firefighters · moderate · diminish · subdue · muffle · smother · wet · mitigate · lessen · pacify · deaden